Voters care to varying degrees about campaign finance, but the disclosures for the Jan. 16 through March 31 period due to the Shelby County Election Commission on Monday do provide some insights into some of the races, especially those at the top of the ballot. Here is our article on the filings from Democratic county mayoral candidates Joe Ford, Otis Jackson and Deidre Malone. What to make of them? Malone, the county commissioner, obviously is showing more depth and breadth of support from those willing to give to candidates, including a fair number of donations online among the 87 contributors she lists giving $19,380. Jackson, the General Sessions Court Clerk, had 30 contributors giving $12,250, with 15 of them working inside county government (another undisclosed number gave $1,793), and Ford, the interim county mayor, had only seven contributions totaling $6,200.
Malone, who owns her own public relations firm and is the only candidate with a Memphis residence, made no apologies for loaning her campaign nearly $40,000, saying the difficult economy and low-interest primary makes for a challenging fundraising environment, and that she needed to get out her message early because she has never run for county-wide office. She also stressed she's had three successful fundraisers (including one on Tuesday night in Nashville) since April 1. Her campaign manager, Kevin Gallagher, said her campaign will make the point that Ford's lackluster filing -- which curiously shows less than $30 in expenditures -- demonstrates a lack of seriousness about the primary and indicates he is taking voters for granted in the belief that he's got the nomination sewn up.
Jackson was clearly disappointed with his fundraising efforts. It's yet another challenge for Jackson, who also believes politics are behind the investigations by the county commission and FBI into accounting discrepancies from his office. As to why 15 of the 30 contributors are county employees, Jackson said: "I don't know. I haven't even looked at it. ... I don't know where the contributions are coming from. I looked at the total amount at the bottom and signed it."
Ford said his recent expenditures for office space and billboard advertising will be reflected in a future filing. One interesting note with Ford -- cell-phone tower magnate and real-estate developer Billy Orgel gave $1,000 to Ford and $1,000 to his son Justin Ford's county commission campaign. Orgel is also a member of the Memphis and Shelby County Metropolitan Government Charter Commission, although Joe Ford says he is opposed to the group's effort to craft a charter to merge city and county government.
All three candidates can be seen live tonight at 6 in a News Channel 3 debate.
For more information on all candidates fundraising, go to the Election Commission Web site at www.ShelbyVote.com and click on the Fundraising link at left. Or just click this link here.
Malone, who owns her own public relations firm and is the only candidate with a Memphis residence, made no apologies for loaning her campaign nearly $40,000, saying the difficult economy and low-interest primary makes for a challenging fundraising environment, and that she needed to get out her message early because she has never run for county-wide office. She also stressed she's had three successful fundraisers (including one on Tuesday night in Nashville) since April 1. Her campaign manager, Kevin Gallagher, said her campaign will make the point that Ford's lackluster filing -- which curiously shows less than $30 in expenditures -- demonstrates a lack of seriousness about the primary and indicates he is taking voters for granted in the belief that he's got the nomination sewn up.
Jackson was clearly disappointed with his fundraising efforts. It's yet another challenge for Jackson, who also believes politics are behind the investigations by the county commission and FBI into accounting discrepancies from his office. As to why 15 of the 30 contributors are county employees, Jackson said: "I don't know. I haven't even looked at it. ... I don't know where the contributions are coming from. I looked at the total amount at the bottom and signed it."
Ford said his recent expenditures for office space and billboard advertising will be reflected in a future filing. One interesting note with Ford -- cell-phone tower magnate and real-estate developer Billy Orgel gave $1,000 to Ford and $1,000 to his son Justin Ford's county commission campaign. Orgel is also a member of the Memphis and Shelby County Metropolitan Government Charter Commission, although Joe Ford says he is opposed to the group's effort to craft a charter to merge city and county government.
All three candidates can be seen live tonight at 6 in a News Channel 3 debate.
For more information on all candidates fundraising, go to the Election Commission Web site at www.ShelbyVote.com and click on the Fundraising link at left. Or just click this link here.
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